MADISON, WI – Earning the opportunity to wrestle at the WIAA Individual State Tournament is an honor in and of itself. For some wrestlers it’s a natural progression. Advancing from regionals to sectionals and then advancing from sectionals to State, then making the podium at State and finally winning at State. Not many wrestlers achieve all four steps, few do it every year and even rarer is when a wrestler can do it every year in high school.
Junior Jack Steinmeyer and sophomore Sam Schmitt both earned the right to advance to the WIAA Individual State in Madison this past weekend and while neither made it to the podium, both gained valuable experience to build on for next year.
Schmitt, wrestling at 138 pounds in Division Three, wrestled well in his first match, but in the waning seconds of the first period against Karssen Bussan of Pardeeville (with a 52-6 record), was able to catch Schmitt in a position that resulted in Schmitt losing by fall. Bussan, a freshman, would eventually go on to finish fourth in the tournament. The loss dropped Schmitt to the consolation bracket, where he faced Oconto senior Ethan Wusterbarth. Wusterbarth and Schmitt battled through three periods, but the senior won a 4-3 decision to advance.
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